


Can I draw you?

by mythicait



Series: Sydrian Oneshots [1]
Category: Bloodlines Series - Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Kinda?, just entirely fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 18:20:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20679827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicait/pseuds/mythicait
Summary: Tumblr prompt: “I needed a character model for this thing I’m drawing/painting and you’re the first person I saw in this coffee shop/library and now I have to keep staring at you for my character and you’ve started to notice shit” AU for sydrianFor my lovely @rhysands-highlady





	Can I draw you?

Try as he might, Adrian could not figure out how he was going to complete this damned drawing assignment.

Normally, he loved trying out different options and painting a thousand things before he finally created the perfect work of art. Unfortunately, right now there were two things standing in his way. First off, this was a drawing assignment. Adrian painted. Drawing was like… an entirely separate type of art and one he liked less.

Second, today was one of those days when inspiration faded from his grasp like a butterfly fleeing across the winds.

The assignment was for a character study, any character they wanted. So it shouldn’t be this hard. Adrian got sick of staring at the other guys in his frat house, so he had gathered his supplies and stomped over to the coffee shop right off campus. Staking out the perfect table in the corner, he took out his notebook and sat staring at the other patrons.

For close to an hour, he started drawing after drawing of the people around him. Each one was worse than the last and he was pretty sure the baristas were going to kick him out if he cursed any louder. He was almost resigned to draw himself at this point.

Hearing the doorbell chime, Adrian looked up in the futile hopes that this newcomer would be someone worthy of drawing. And his heart skipped a beat.

Almost before he could make the decision, he was drawing her. He couldn’t capture the golden shade of her hair or the amber tint to her brown eyes, but he tried to encapsulate the grace of her features and the curve of her lips. The curling lines of the bold tattoo that spread across her face contrasted sharply with the prim and proper clothes she was wearing and he loved it.

He drew her as she stood in line, catching a glimpse of her profile as she waited for her triple shot of espresso. Adrian was blessed once again when she sat at a table facing him so he could continue perfecting the contours of her face. When he finally stepped back into his own body, he realized that he had drawn her over every inch of several pages in his notebook.

Blinking, he marvelled at them before he flipped to a clean page. This would be the one. Glancing up at his muse every few seconds, Adrian laid out the first lines of his portrait. He was concentrating on her hair and how it feathered across her neck when a shadow fell over him.

Looking up, he came face-to-face with the woman he had been gazing at for the better part of two hours.

“Can I ask why you’ve been staring at me since I came in here?”

Her voice was no-nonsense but there was an underlying tone that hinted that maybe - just possibly - she was teasing him. Amber eyes dipped down to look at his notebook and he felt a blush rise to tinge his cheeks. Caught red-handed, Adrian tried to regain his normally suave composure. “Well, I needed a model for this assignment I’m drawing and you were the first person I saw here that was worth drawing.”

She considered him for a moment before she set her bag on his table and sat down across from him. Nonplussed, Adrian opened his mouth to say something but he shut it when she reached out her hand and wiggled her fingers.

Raising an eyebrow, she smiled at him. “If I’m the focus of your drawing, I think I should be allowed to see them.”

Letting a cocky smile spread across his face, Adrian said, “Only if you tell me your name. Otherwise, I’m going to call you espresso girl.”

She rolled her eyes at him but she shifted so that her hand was held out to shake his. “I’m Sydney Sage. It’s nice to meet you…”

“Adrian Ivashkov.” He reached out to clasp her hand and found he didn’t want to stop touching her.

“So can I see the drawing, Adrian?”

More nervous than he usually was when he showed his work, he nodded and handed over the notebook. “Try not to be too impressed though. I didn’t have any khaki colored pencils to capture the exact shade of your pants.”

He had the feeling she would have rolled her eyes but she was too busy staring at his drawing. Before he could stop her, she had flipped back a couple pages and was perusing through all of his doodles of her.

“If you were so eager, Sage, you could have asked-”

“These are amazing, Adrian.”

His pulse raced at her praise and he still wasn’t sure why he was having this strong of a reaction to this woman he had just met. Sure, she was beautiful, but there was something about the way she looked at him that just…

“So you don’t mind being my muse?”

She shot him a flat stare, but he saw the faintest smile start to curve her lips. “Well in the future, you should get permission _before_ you start drawing people.”

“In that case, could I draw you this weekend? Maybe take you out to eat as thanks?”

Sydney bit her lip and she stared at him for a few seconds, long enough that he was starting to think he had moved too fast. But she seemed to make a decision and she held out his notebook. “Does Saturday night work for you?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, kudos, and especially commenting!
> 
> Feel free to visit me on tumblr @myfeyrelady!


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